Does recycling glass have more benefits beyond just reuse? It turns out the answer is yes.
New technology is making sorting the glass collected in curbside recycling more efficient by using magnets to remove metals and optical sorters to separate colors. This allows for more used glass bottles to be turned back into new glass bottles.
Then, once glass is prepared for recycling, it is mixed with soda ash, sand and limestone, and everything is melted together in a furnace heated to 2,700 degrees.
Recycled glass melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials used to make glass from scratch, so more recycled glass means huge energy savings.
Learning more, understanding more and making educated decisions when you buy creates a demand in the market and slowly the market responds.
If it costs less to make recycled glass, manufacturers and consumers will consider new choices, and round and round it goes.
Source: Environmental Defenders of McHenry County